The 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (GLBI) brought together 144 of the world’s best golfers to compete in Midland, Michigan, this July. The annual tournament began in 2019 and has been dedicated to sustainability since its inception. The GLBI is sponsored by Dow, a leader for materials science solutions. 

The inaugural event was the first GEO certified tournament in LPGA history. The GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf is an international not-for-profit that works to support and reward credible sustainability action and to strengthen and promote golf’s social and environmental value. They certify golf facilities, tournaments, and developments that meet their voluntary standards. 

The 2021 and 2022 events were carbon neutral, using a combination of mitigation and recycling strategies along with NCX carbon credits to offset portions of each tournament’s unavoidable emissions.

Dow placed a large emphasis on reducing and recycling when possible before looking to offset the remaining emissions for the tournaments. In 2021, roughly 78% of waste generated was recycled or reused, 80% of signage will be reused in the future, and 100% of the tournament’s freshwater use was compensated through the purchase of Water Restoration Certificates – helping restore the equivalent of 2.3 million gallons of water to critically dewatered rivers and streams. 

NCX credits sourced from our Winter 2022 cycle are offsetting all remaining emissions from the events. Through these credits, the GLBI is supporting family forests in the Great Lakes region, helping preserve wildlife habitat and contributing to a net-zero future with verified climate impact.

Specifically, the credits used to offset emissions from the 2021 event are benefitting 22 landowners in Michigan and 207 landowners in Great Lake states – keeping trees growing on 50,000 acres in Michigan and 219,000 acres in the Great Lake states, which provides plant and animal species the habitat they need to thrive.

In total, Dow’s purchase is supporting over 1,500 family landowners with a total of 950,000 acres of forest land. The climate impact of these credits is expected to be 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is equal to offsetting the emissions of 210 passenger vehicles for one year.

NCX carbon credits have generated 1.13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent climate impact. Over 3,823 landowners are enrolled in the program, with a collective 4.6 million acres of forest.

If you are interested in learning how NCX can help offset your organization’s emissions, reach out to us.